Display Device Kit

ABSTRACT

A display device kit ( 10 ) comprising a support member in the form of a strip ( 14 ) faced with a hooked or hooped pile, a plurality of pads ( 18 ) provided on one side with an adhesive surface ( 18   b ), and complementary hooped or hooked surface ( 18   a ) on its other side, and at least two different ones of hangers ( 22,24 ). Each hanger comprises a base connection means ( 26   a   ,28   b ) and a strip connection means ( 28   a   ,26   b ), whereby the hanger may be connected to a base surface ( 34 ) by said base connection means and the hanger connected to said strip by the strip connection means. A first one ( 24 ) of the hangers has a base and strip connection means that are each an adhesive surface; and a second one ( 22 ) has a base connection means as an eye ( 26   a ) of a cord and a strip connection means as a spring clasp ( 28   a ) connected to the cord.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application number PCT/GB05/03078, filed in Great Britain on Aug. 4, 2005, which claims the benefit of foreign application number GB 0418420.6, filed in Great Britain on Aug. 18, 2004.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a display device kit, and is particularly, but not necessarily exclusively, concerned with the display of greetings cards.

2. Description of the Related Art

Greetings cards, and more particularly Christmas cards, can be received in such numbers that having them on display is particularly problematic. Card trees and card hangers are known, and which are slotted to allow insertion of a card edge or corner, but they are not particularly effective. A card inserted in the slot of a slotted hanger does not provide a stable connection as between the card and the hanger, and cards frequently fall carrying with them adjacent cards.

GB-A-2236206 and GB-A-2288684 both disclose a board provided with grooves to receive the pins of display elements and also having a loop textile finish so that “self-adhesive stamps” of hooked material can be affixed on the back of photographs enabling them to be displayed on the board by the interaction of the stamps with the looped surface of the board.

DE-U-29620139 discloses a similar area of evidently hooped material to which patches of hooked material can be adhered, the hooked patches carrying storage containers for stationary items, and hooks, clips, grips etc by which other items may be connected to the board.

GB-A-2050665 discloses a board on which strips of hoped/hooked material is affixed horizontally across the board, and to which sheets of material provided with complementary hooked/hoped material strips may be adhered to the board. The primary use is for the display of sales information such as price.

However, none of the forgoing provide a complete system for the user because there is no method described for attachment of the board in question to a fixed structure such as a wall or the like. Moreover, the board itself is likely to remain prominently visible.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple and effective kit of parts providing a display device that is free from the disadvantages mentioned above, or at least mitigates their effects.

According to the present invention, there is provided display device kit comprising a support member in the form of a strip faced with a hooked or hooped pile, a plurality of pads provided on one side with an adhesive surface, and complementary hooped or hooked surface on its other side, and at least one hanger, said hanger comprising a base connection means and a strip connection means, whereby the hanger may be connected to a base surface by said base connection means and the hanger connected to said strip by the strip connection means.

Preferably, at least two different ones of said hanger is included in the kit, each with at least one of different base and strip connection means.

Preferably, said base connection means is selected from the group comprising an adhesive patch, a nail, a wall pin, an eye, a clasp and a hooked pile patch. Said strip connection means may be selected from the group comprising an adhesive patch, a hook and a clasp. Indeed, said strip may have an eye at its end and said strip connection means in this event would comprise a hook to engage said eye.

In a preferred embodiment, said two different ones of hangers comprise: a first one, in which said base and strip connection means are each an adhesive surface; and a second one, in which said base connection means is an eye and said strip connection means is a spring clasp.

The hooked and hooped pile fastening means may be those sold under the Registered Trade Mark VELCRO.

The separate pads may be secured to the rear of an item to be displayed by said adhesive, which is preferably pressure sensitive and overlaid by a removable release covering. The covering prevents the pads from adhering to each other or to packaging whilst they are stored for sale and for use in said packaging.

The strip may be of a length and width commensurate with known hanging devices, that is to say, about 1 metre to 1.5 metres long, and preferably about 2 cm in width. Alternatively, the strip can be of a long length intended to be cut by the user to lengths selected by the user and so as to allow hanging where required on walls and doors. Preferably, said strip is supplied in the kit as a reel. By way of one or other of the clips in the kit, it is possible to secure the clip to a suitable display surface such as a wall, door, cupboard etc, and then by the clip to secure the strip to said wall, door or cupboard, as the as may be.

The separate pads can be attached by the adhesive to the rear of an item to be displayed, and its hooked or hooped pile surface pressed against the hooped or hooked pile surface of the strip. This provides for a positive, but releasable, engagement of the pad to the strip and hence hold the item to be displayed to the strip. The possibility that the item to be displayed can fall is effectively eliminated, and yet allows it to be removed with relative ease when the time for which the display is required has expired. An additional and beneficial feature of the invention is that, with a card or the like secured to the strip, the strip can be totally obscured, such that only the cards or the like is visible. Preferably, the strip is of hooked material and the pads of hooped material.

Which clip is employed is a matter determined by the nature of the surface to which it is to be connected and whether any hanging or other securing means is already present. For example, a wall may already have a nail or picture hook in place, in which event a clip with an eye is employed. Alternatively, it may be desired to hang pictures or Christmas cards from a curtain, or a fabric pelmet, in which event perhaps a clip with a spring clasp best connects to such a base. Otherwise a clip with a pin or hook might be preferred.

The invention can be used to display items of information of importance to a reader, but it is an ideal form of hanging greetings cards such as Christmas cards on display for a required and relevant period of time, and with the certainty that individual cards will not fall.

As mentioned above, the strip faced with the hooked or hooped pile fastening means, is inherently flexible, and it can be folded to be returned to its packaging, but preferably it is rolled for storage and transport prior to sale, and folded or rolled for storage after a first use. At a next use, all the user needs to do is acquire a further quantity of faced pads to allow a new batch of cards or items of information to be attached to the original strip. On the other hand, depending on the adhesive employed on the pad, and the nature of the card to which it is adhered during first use, it is feasible that the pads cab be peeled off the card and applied to a different one, or even stored for later use if the release adhesive protection material has been retained.

Indeed, it is within the ambit of the invention to provide pads with different adhesive especially adapted for a particular substrate. Two significant applications of the invention require adherence of the pads to two distinct card types. The first is Christmas and other greetings cards, where the base is a paper/cardboard surface which inherently has a fibrous surface requiring a relatively sticky adhesive to ensure adherence. The second is photographs, where the base is a relatively glossy surface requiring a less sticky adhesive to ensure adherence. Furthermore, by the nature of the situation, Christmas cards and greetings cards tend to have a one-off lifetime. The cards are hung as they arrive and then stay in place until it is time to take down the cards and dismantle the display system. There is little interchange of cards and not much requirement to take pads off the back of one card to use on another. On the other hand, photographs may be more permanent display items and, from time to time, it may be desired to exchange one photo for another one, requiring the ability of the pad to peel from the back of the photo and stick reliably to another, and perhaps through multiple iterations of this process. Consequently, preferably the pads in one kit for one application are differentiated from the pads of another kit for another application by difference adhesives having different adhesive characteristics. Preferably, the adhesive in one kit is stickier than the adhesive in another kit.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the invention is further described hereinafter, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a kit according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the display device of the present invention, in use; and

FIG. 3 is a front view of the display device, in use.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the drawings, a kit 10 of a display system comprises packaging 12 enclosing three items:

(a) a reel 14 of a strip of hooped pile material, such as commonly sold under the registered trade mark Velcro;

(b) a packet 16 containing a multiple of individual pads 18 (about 50 in a typical packet); and

(c) a packet 20 of hangers 22,24.

Each hanger 22,24 comprises a base connection means 26 a,28 b and a strip connection means 28 a,26 b. In the case of hanger 22, the base connection means comprises an eye 26 a formed by a loop of cord. The strip connection means comprises a spring clasp 28 a having opposing jaws 30 capable of springing together to grip an item between them. The cord is connected to the clasp.

Different therefrom, the hanger 24 comprises a foam pad having pressure sensitive adhesive applied to each of its two main faces, each adhesive layer being protected by a release covering (not shown).

The hanger 24 is shown in use in FIG. 2 where it can be seen to comprise a tab 32 which is free of adhesive on both its surfaces. A back surface 28 b is provided with adhesive and forms the base connection means for adherence to a wall or door 34. The opposing face 26 b is adhered to the back of one end of a strip 14 a taken from the reel 14. The strip 14 a is disposed to hang vertically from the base 34.

A pad 18 has an adhesive face 18 b which is adhered to the top of a card or photograph 36. The opposing face 18 a of the pad 18 is provided with a hooked pile. The hooked pile releasably interacts with the hooped pile face 14 b of the strip 14 a and secures the card reliably to the strip 14 a, which itself if reliably secured to the base 34. The tab 32 enables the hanger 24 to be peeled from the base 34.

FIG. 3 shows the system in use where a plurality of cards 36 are displayed one above the other supported on a strip 14 c. Here, a hanger 22 is employed where the clasp 28 a grips the top of the strip 14 c, while the eye 26 a is looped around a nail 38 in the wall 34.

Different forms of hanger 22,24 are possible and it is proposed that at least two are provided to cater for most eventualities. However, instead of the clasp 28 a, co-operating with the loop 26 a, it would be feasible for a hooked patch to be used in its place. Likewise, the loop 26 a could be replaced by an adhesive patch, or a nail or pin for direct attachment to a wall.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of any foregoing embodiments. The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Throughout the description and claims of this specification, the words “comprise” and “contain” and variations of the words, for example “comprising” and “comprises”, means “including but not limited to”, and is not intended to (and does not) exclude other moieties, additives, components, integers or steps.

Throughout the description and claims of this specification, the singular encompasses the plural unless the context otherwise requires. In particular, where the indefinite article is used, the specification is to be understood as contemplating plurality as well as singularity, unless the context requires otherwise.

Features, integers, characteristics, compounds, chemical moieties or groups described in conjunction with a particular aspect, embodiment or example of the invention are to be understood to be applicable to any other aspect, embodiment or example described herein unless incompatible therewith. 

1. A display device kit comprising: a support member in the form of a strip faced with a hooked or hooped pile; a plurality of pads, each of said pads provided on one side with an adhesive surface, and a hooped or hooked surface complementary to said support member hooked or hooped pile on its other side; at least one hanger; said at least one hanger comprising a base connection means and a strip connection means; whereby the hanger may be connected to a base surface by said base connection means and the hanger connected to said strip by the strip connection means.
 2. A display kit according to claim 1, in which at least two different ones of said hanger is included in the kit, each with at least one of different base and strip connection means.
 3. A display kit according to claim 1, in which said base connection means is selected from the group comprising an adhesive patch, a nail, a wall pin, an eye, a clasp and a hooked pile patch.
 4. A display kit according to claim 1, in which said strip connection means is selected from the group comprising an adhesive patch, a hook and a clasp.
 5. A display kit according to claim 4, in which said strip has an eye at its end and said strip connection means comprises a hook to engage said eye.
 6. A display kit according to claim 2, in which said two different ones of hangers comprises: a first one, in which said base and strip connection means are each an adhesive surface; and a second one, in which said base connection means is an eye and said strip connection means is a spring clasp.
 7. A display kit according to claim 3, in which said adhesive is pressure sensitive and overlaid by a removable release covering.
 8. A display kit according to claim 4, in which said adhesive is pressure sensitive and overlaid by a removable release covering.
 9. A display kit according to claim 6, in which said adhesive is pressure sensitive and overlaid by a removable release covering.
 10. A display kit according to claim 1, in which the strip is between 0.5 metre and 2.0 metres long, preferably between 1.0 metre and 1.5 metres long, more preferably between 1.2 and 1.4 metres long.
 11. A display kit according to claim 1, in which the strip is between 1 and 3 cm in width, preferably between 1.5 and 2.5 cm in width, more preferably between 1.8 and 2.2 cm in width.
 12. A display kit according to claim 1, in which the strip is supplied in the kit as a reel.
 13. A display kit according to claim 1, in which the strip is of hooked material and the pads of hooped material.
 14. Two display kits, each according to claim 1, in which the pads in one kit for one application are differentiated from the pads of the second kit for another application by different adhesives having different adhesive characteristics.
 15. Two display kits according to claim 12, in which the adhesive in one kit is stickier than the adhesive in another kit.
 16. A display device kit comprising a support member in the form of a strip faced with a hooked or hooped pile, a plurality of pads provided on one side with an adhesive surface, and complementary hooped or hooked surface on its other side, and at least one hanger, said hanger comprising a base connection means and a strip connection means, whereby the hanger is connectible to a base surface by said base connection means and the hanger is connectible to said strip by the strip connection means; wherein at least two different ones of said hanger is included in the kit, each with at least one of different base and strip connection means; wherein said base connection means is selected from the group comprising an adhesive patch, a nail, a wall pin, an eye, a clasp and a hooked pile patch; and wherein said strip connection means is selected from the group comprising an adhesive patch, a hook and a clasp. 